phthalocyanine

coordination compounds

...compounds in chemistry and technology are many and varied. The brilliant and intense colours of many coordination compounds, such as Prussian blue, render them of great value as dyes and pigments. Phthalocyanine complexes (e.g., copper phthalocyanine), containing large-ring ligands closely related to the porphyrins, constitute an important class of dyes for fabrics.

pigments

...atoms attached that are formed in closed rings. Organic pigments include azo pigments, which contain a nitrogen group; they account for most of the organic red, orange, and yellow pigments. Copper phthalocyanines provide brilliant, strong blues and greens that are unusually colourfast for organic colours. Some pigments, such as fluorescent ones, are simply dyes that have been rendered...

synthetic organic dyes

Phthalocyanines, the most important chromogens developed in the 20th century, were introduced in 1934. They are analogs of two natural porphyrins: chlorophyll and hemoglobin. Phthalocyanine was discovered in 1907 and its copper salt in 1927, but their potential as colorants was not immediately recognized. Identification of a brilliant blue impurity in an industrial preparation of phthalimide by...